


Wish

by eiyria



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: AU, Devils, Gen, Halloween, Violence, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-08-20 05:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8237111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eiyria/pseuds/eiyria
Summary: Touka, a witch wished upon a devil to grant her wish.  She wishes revenge on the hunters who stole Hinami's mother's life and father's life. What appeared instead was Kaneki a half devil, who doesn't really want to kill anyone.  But until Kaneki fulfills Touka's wish, he cannot return to hell.





	1. The Wish

**Author's Note:**

> In the context of this story, 'demons' and 'devils' are interchangeable words.

Touka had never seen a selkie skinned alive before. She saw an older man with white hair and a long insidious coat, swing his arm forward, a thick red-tinted whip extended from his hand and wrapped around Ryouko Fueguchi. Once restrained, he was on her in an instant, knife slicing into her throat like butter, and then carving skin and flesh off akin to peeling a potato.

Ryouko's scream reverberated in her throat. Touka would have screamed too, had her uncle's forceful hand not been wrapped securely around her mouth, the other hand, pinning her body and restraining her from rushing head-first at the hunters.

There was a younger man accompanying the older hunter. He was young, with black hair, a strong face,and serious eyes. As his mentor continued to peel bits of Ryouko, his gaze scoured his surroundings, alert and watching for danger. 

Yomo forced Touka further out of sight. Careful not to make any sudden movements which might catch the younger hunter’s eye. 

Eventually Ryouko's screams stopped, but the sound of slicing flesh continued. Tears poured down Touka's face, and Yomo continued to stifle her sobs. 

The hunters left as the sun set, and once clear, Touka and Yomo retreated into the twilight.

The two headed back to Anteiku, a butcher shop run by their boss old-man-Yoshimura. The butcher shop catered to both the natural and the supernatural, and was one of the only reasons some creatures were able to maintain relatively peaceful lives. Upon entering, Yomo signalled to Yoshimura and flipped the sign on the door from 'open' to 'closed'. The two men headed upstairs to the meeting room, most likely to discuss what had just transpired. 

Meanwhile, Touka found Ryouko's daughter, Hinami, seated at the entry waiting area. Hinami was curled up in a ball, as if trying to make herself smaller, and she was shaking. Touka held her and couldn't come up with the words to say. She was shaking with fury, and thought to herself, "I'm going to kill those hunters".

Touka had taken Hinami to her apartment that night. She had given Hinami a bath - the water seemed to help her relax, if only a little - and had sent her to sleep in Ayato's room. Afterwards she had gone to her own room, got on her hands and knees, and reached under her bed. She pulled out an ancient looking grimoire. It had been her father's. And after hunters had taken him, she had braved going back once to their home in order to retrieve it.

He had been a witch. Her mother had been a witch. And like both her parents, she too carried some talent for the art. She was still young, and prone to mistakes - as had been made abundantly clear to her by her uncle during their training sessions. However, for what she planned on doing - she had to be 100% perfect. There was no room for error.

She was proficient with combat magic - utilizing kinetic energy in different ways - and could easily hold off a run-of-the-mill hunter. She had adequate experience with illusions to keep her face hidden when necessary. However, flying - flying proved she was an embarrassment to witches everywhere. Luckily what she would be attempting later had nothing to do with flying.

Tonight she was summoning a devil to grant her wish.

She opened her father's grimoire and flipped quickly to the page she had seen many times before. She read the instructions like a recipe. She read them over and over again till every step was practically memorized. Summoning devils, demons, and nether-world ilk was extremely dangerous. Strong demons could retaliate against their magically exhausted summoner. Sometimes, devils didn't even need to use physical violence. Their words could twist the summoner’s mind, excelling at deception through words. A small voice nagged at the back of her mind: "Maybe you shouldn't try summoning a demon while Hinami is in the house". But a louder, more rage filled voice pushed her to continue.

Getting up, she headed to the kitchen to grab a cage containing 2 mice from her supply cabinet. Typical witch ingredient. Mice were used as living essence in many different potions. She figured if the creature she summoned was hungry, a blood sacrifice would be a good show of faith. She carved symbols from the book into candles and laid them around her on the floor. Finally, she read the grimoire page one last time. She was sure everything was perfect. She was ready.

She recited the words from the book. Speaking them articulately and confidently. It was a short spell. The seemingly random words and sounds, meant to be a calling card to a very specific demon. The devil known as "The Binge Eater". Finally she spoke her wish.

"I want revenge upon the one who killed Ryouko Fueguchi. I wish for him to die in the worst way imaginable," she spat, the words harsh and filled with anger.

She felt magical energy leave her body in a much larger amount than she'd ever felt before. A tear slipped from her eye and fell into one of the candles, dimming it for a fraction of a second. Spiritually drained she fell forward. Moving her hands to catch herself, she managed to stay upright despite exhaustion.

The room rumbled once. The candles went out like a strong quick wind had blown by. Then they raged back to life. pillars of fire shooting upwards from tiny wicks. And in the illuminated room she saw a devil. No taller than herself, standing a few feet before her, with a book in hand.

Touka's heart beat faster, fear flooded through her. She raised her eyes to his face, and the fear flooded away. Her devil looked terribly sad.

"Hello," he introduced himself, "I'm Ken Kaneki."

"I'm Touka Kirishima," she replied on reflex.

"It's nice to meet you. I've heard your wish."


	2. Defective Devil

He stood there awkwardly in front of her. A long devil tail fell from underneath his baggy hoodie and swished uncomfortably from side to side. He had small barely-visible horns budding underneath his hair.

"I heard your wish," he said, finger itching his cheek, "But I don't think I can do it."

For Touka, Fear had been replaced with confusion, and now confusion had been replaced once again with rage.

"What do you mean you can't do it -you idiot? Why are you even here then?" she all but yelled.

"Well, you summoned me...But I don't think I can kill a person...."

"I summoned the Binge Eater. A demon known for its ferocity and predilection towards extreme violence." She gestured at Kaneki and wagged her finger back and forth, "I'm not seeing any of that right now."

His head sunk a little, and he seemed to shy away, placing his book between himself and the angry girl. "The Binge Eater is my mother."

"So why are you here and not her?"

"She's been away recently, a lot of jobs. Maybe this is what happens when two people try to summon her at the same time?"

Touka finished his thought out loud, "So one summoner gets the Binge Eater, and the other summoner," she rocked in place a little, "Gets the next closest thing."

"Maybe..."

Touka stared at him for a few seconds, calculating. His body language indicated he wasn’t a threat, but devils were also known for their trickery. 

Touka sighed in frustration, running her hand through her hair. "It's late. I'm tired. We'll figure this out in the morning." She grabbed the cage of mice, and held it out to the boy, "Do you need a blood sacrifice ~ or something?"

She saw a look of disgust cross his face. "Well, if you change your mind, I’ll put them right by the couch." She got up to head for the door.

He cocked his head and looked confused. 

Holding the doorframe she looked back at him over her shoulder, “You’re sleeping on the couch. Unless you have somewhere else you can stay.”

His eyes shifted to the ground.

“That’s what I thought,” mumbled Touka, “Come this way, and be quiet. I don’t want Hinami to wake up.”

He followed her, tail whipping back and forth behind him.

She put the cage of mice by the couch and motioned for him to get on it. She briefly left and returned with an armful of blankets. With an unceremonious motion, she tossed the bedding at Kaneki. The bedding knocked the book he’d been holding from his hands; and additionally something else fell from the bedding during the toss. The girl reached to pick it up. He saw her hands clasp over something small and fabric-like. While he eyed her curiously, she walked around the couch to stand behind him, and pulled out some of his hairs.

“OUCH!” he yelped, coming quickly to a sitting position clutching his head as he turned to face her. “Why did you do that?!”

In her hands were a few strands of his hair. He watched as she wrapped them tightly around the small human-esk object that had fallen from the bedding a few seconds prior. She walked around to the kitchen area, and he watched her drop it in resealable plastic-ware.

His voice hit a high pitch, “Is that ??!! - A Voodoo Doll?”

“I need some security,” she replied level-headedly. “Do you think it would be wise to have a devil roaming the house while I sleep? If the literature written about you creatures is true, then that would put me in a very compromised situation. Consider this a little insurance.” Her face took on a darker tone, “Even if you wanted to, you’re not going to be able to leave this couch.”

“I told you already,” the devil whimpered, “I can’t kill a person.”

The girl huffed, disbelieving. “Whatever.” With a flick of her wrist the world seemed to warp around the voodoo doll. The hair wrapped a little more tightly around the fabric torso and the plastic-ware it was in seemed to blur. Kaneki reached out a hand to test the spell. His hand made contact with something hard and invisible. He slowly retracted his hand and gave Touka a discontented look. 

She twirled on her feet, headed for the bedroom. “Goodnight Devil. See you in the morning.”


	3. Bad Mornings

A woman with long hair and a voice like syrup dragged an unconscious man across the floor. She opened a barred jail-cell door and nudged the body in with her foot. After locking the door, she turned back to her benefactor. 

“As ordered, your wish has been granted.”

Flames, like burning candles, popped up around her one by one. They slowly dimmed one by one, and the room around her faded into darkness. Like the light, the Binge Eater known as Rize Kamishiro was no longer there.

\--------

The devil, Kaneki woke up to the sound of a fork clanking against a ceramic plate. He groggily wiped the sleep from his eyes, and pushed his body to an almost upright position. With a dull thump, his head hit something solid. Upon further inspection, he appeared to have hit... nothing. “Ahh,” he murmured, remembering last night, “The entrapment spell from last night.” He sighed, already tired. Looking up, he found the noise came from a little girl eating at a small plastic table.

At the sound of his words, the little girl froze, and averted her eyes. She then continued picking at her food, which looked like raw fish. It was at that moment, the witch from the night before, Touka, walked in. 

“Rise and shine sleepy head,” she announced loudly in his direction. “We have some things we need to talk about.” She turned her head to the girl, “Hinami, when you’re done, can you go to your room. I need to have a serious conversation with this guy.”

She nodded, signalling she understood the elder girl’s request.

“Sister, why do you have a strange man in your home?” she questioned almost emotionlessly. 

Touka’s cheeks turned a shade of pink. “It’s not what it looks like.”

Hinami looked tired, but managed a disbelieving look.

“Really, this guy is a devil. He’s got horns and everything.” Touka circled by the couch to pick up the untouched mice cage from the night before, put it in the kitchen cabinet, and joined the younger girl at the table, spooning breakfast into her mouth. She turned her head briefly back to Kaneki, “Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?”

“No,” he replied, eyes fixated on Hinami. 

“Why did you let a devil into your house?”

Touka’s chewing paused. She seemed at a loss for words. Finally she responded, “I’ve got business with him. Don’t worry about it. Everything is going to be fine.”

Kaneki watched from the couch as the two finished up their meal in silence. The younger girl headed back to her room. Her reactions slow and dazed. Kaneki heard music begin to play. The elder disappeared only to return with the grimoire from last night in hand. She flipped through the pages and gave a terse “Aha!” when she had apparently found the page she was looking for. Her hands whisked through the air, her voice pronouncing syllables that didn’t seem to fit together, both actions came to an end when she flung her right arm forward as if slicing through air. The background noise and Hinami’s music seemed to dull down, and then Kaneki noticed he couldn’t hear it anymore. “A silencing spell,” he noted. “You’re very adept.”

“You say that now, but you haven’t seen my try to fly.” Touka put her dish in the sink and walked over to the devil on the couch. “We need to discuss my wish.” She took a seat on the other end of the couch. “The little girl you just saw, she’s lost both her parents. They were murdered by the man I summoned you to kill. So think carefully about your response when I ask you the following. When you said `you don’t think you can kill` - were you telling me you are incapable of killing, or that you just don’t want too?”

“I can feel that she is suffering, but I’ve never killed a person before.”

“But you could?”

“I don’t know,” His entire form deflated. “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” He made a fist and then loosened it again, flexing his hand, “I’m not sure I even could cause harm if I tried. I’m a weakling”.

“You are a bit scrawny,” commented Touka. “But you are a devil.”

“Yes,” he agreed, holding his chin with his left hand.

Aggravated she held her face in her hand, and looked at Kaneki through the slits between her fingers. “So,” she exhaled, “It sounds like you cannot fulfil my wish. Why don’t you go back to hell, and I’ll summon the real Binge Eater, your mother, and then we can put all of this behind us?”

He raised a finger to itch at his cheek. “It -uh- isn’t that simple.”

“What do you mean?” asked Touka.

“I can’t go back.”

“Do you not want to? - Because that is not my problem. If you have issues with your mother, you should sort them out with her.”

“It isn’t that.” His voice softened. “A wish is like a contract. Until it is fulfilled, I can’t go back. Your wish ties me to you, until the point at which I can grant your wish. Like gravity, it keeps me bound to this world.”

Touka pinched the bridge of her nose, struggling to contain her frustration. “So what you’re saying is: I’m stuck with you and my wish won’t be granted.”

“I’m sorry.”

She just stared at him. The one thing that was suppose to balance the scales, and bring justice for Hinami, ended up being a weak non-violent devil. One who seemed incapable of doing his job. And now she was stuck with him. Meanwhile, the hunter who killed one of their own got to walk scott free. Infuriating. The world was unfair. But maybe…

She dropped her hand from her face, and raised her head to look at him. “Kaneki, have you ever been to the mortal world before? Ever fulfilled a wish?”

He squirmed uncomfortably. In a soft voice he replied, “No.”

She leaned back on the couch. “Hmmm. That’s what I thought.” A smile crossed her face. He was a young devil, too young to have experienced the cruelty of the world. He had no idea of what needed to be done to survive. But if he was stuck here, he would see soon enough the unfairness that plagued the mortal realm. Maybe… Just maybe, once he experienced cruelty, she would get her wish after all. Part of her recoiled at such a selfish thought, but then she remembered Ryouko’s screams and Hinami’s pain. 

“You’re a devil. You are bound to at least attempt to grant my wish. But in the meantime, you can’t just freeload here. I’m not running a charity. You’re going to get a job, work, and make money.”

He looked aghast. “Touka, I’ve never had a job. How can I expect someone to hire -”

She cut him off, “I’ll talk to my boss. We need an extra set of hands at work. I’ve been working for him for a couple years, if I explain the situation I think we can work something out.”

“Ok.” Kaneki gulped.

The girl walked to where she’d put the voodoo doll the night before, and popped it out of the plastic-ware. A harsh sound escaped through her mouth and the doll sparked for a second. Kaneki felt suddenly less cramped, and reached out to find the barrier from last night gone. 

She glanced at a clock on the wall. It we don’t get out of here soon, we’re going to be late.


	4. First Impressions

Touka, Kaneki, and Hinami took the public transit system to Anteiku, with Touka leading the way, Kaneki nose in his book, and Hinami silently trailing behind. When they arrived, Touka opened the door and a chime resounded throughout the establishment. In response to the sound, the manager, Yoshimura, looked up from his inventory list. “Touka?” He questioned softly. “A friend of yours?”

“This is Ken Kaneki. He’s good,” she replied, a statement that implied the young man belonged to the supernatural world. 

Kaneki looked at her, confused by the exchange. 

“He’s a changeling,” she lied. She knew Yoshimura would not approve of any retribution against the hunters. And if she told him Kaneki was a devil, Touka’s intentions would be immediately obvious. 

“Perhaps,” Yoshimura began, one of his eyes opening to the point where his glowing yellow iris was visible against a black background, “You should suggest to your ‘changeling’ friend to be a little more discrete. You’re both lucky the store hasn’t opened yet.” 

Touka made a little confused noise. She looked back at Kaneki, then looked back to Yoshimura, then her head snapped back around to look at Kaneki again. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth went slack-jawed. 

The edges of the manager’s face curled up ever so slightly in amusement and a figure in the background washing dishes chuckled.

“Idiot Kaneki!” The girl practically screeched at him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the back, leaving a distraught looking Hinami at the store front. When he was out of sight, she pushed him up against the wall, her angry face in front of his. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you intentionally trying to complicate my life?!”

The devil looked nervous and confused. “I don’t know what you mean-”

“Your tail is out! What if someone sees? Hell, Yoshimura saw. He _knows_ NOW.” She hissed exasperated. 

“What’s wrong with that?” He asked genuinely confused.

Touka stepped back, put her hand against her forehead, as if trying to relieve a headache. “What the hell were you doing? What the hell were you thinking? What the hell was _I_ thinking…” she mumbled to herself. She dropped her hand, looked to the ceiling, and let out a long breath. “Ok. I’m sorry. This is my fault. I forgot, you’ve never been to the mortal realm before.” She looked at his body posture. He still appeared tense. “Look,” she began, “This world isn’t like the one you came from. There are a few things I need to tell you. And I was stupid for not telling you earlier. It didn’t even cross my mind.” She murmured under her breath too quietly for his ears, “And I honestly didn’t think anyone could be that stupid.”

“Ok,” Kaneki replied, still feeling out of place.

“One,- things like us,” she pointed at him and then back at her, “We live in secret. As far as the rest of the world knows, we don’t really exist.”

“Didn’t you wish for me to kill a hunter? Doesn’t that imply that the world knows?”

“That brings us to point two,” she held up two fingers. “The supernatural world does have one main threat. The CCG. The Commission of Counter Ghoul was an organization that used to specifically eliminate ghouls. However, after about half a century of being in operation, they also gathered sufficient evidence to show other creatures existed. Ghouls were no longer solely hunted. Next came the werewolves, trolls, vampires - and then they discovered witches, faeries, wendigos, ghosts, shapeshifters. Everything in fact. They figured, if all these legends were turning out to be true, then each legend should be assessed instead as a historical record. ”

“My mother says they’re just weak humans…”

“They,” she breathed, “Are extremely good at their jobs. And even if most of the world is still in disbelief about us, most of our numbers have been cut by ¾ since they began hunting us. If they catch wind that you are somehow supernaturally related, there will be no trial, no jury, they will find you, and kill you. Once they know your face, there is nowhere you can hide.” She began straightening out his clothes she had rumpled when being forceful with him earlier. “No matter what, you cannot tell anyone what you are. And you have to keep it hidden. No matter what.” Her voice became softer, “Promise me you can do that?”

Kaneki nodded. “I can do that.” He lifted up his hoodie, reached behind himself, grabbed his tail, and wrapped it around his hips and tucked it in. He smiled at her. “No one will see it.”

“Good.” She looked at his budding horns. “I think I’m going to get you a hat. I thought your hair would hide it. But, we can never be too cautious. In the meantime, go sit with Hinami. I still need to talk to the Manager about your employment.”


	5. A Job

Kaneki went to go sit down near Hinami. He reopened his book and continued where he left off. To his surprise the girl spoke to him.

“What are you reading? You always seem to be reading when given the opportunity.”

He marked his spot with a bookmark, and looked at Hinami. “The Divine Comedy.” He waved the book’s cover in front of her. “An epic poem detailing Dante’s journey through hell. - It is appropriate ~ don’t you think? A devil reading about hell?”

Hinami’s nose scrunched up a little and she took a sniff at the air. “You don’t really smell like a devil, but you have the horns and the tail. Which are you?”

Kaneki froze in place. His face got very serious. “Please don’t tell,” he pleaded.

Hinami looked worried. What was bothering Kaneki so much to cause such an abrupt change in his behavior?

“Please don’t tell. Mom told me not to let anyone ever know.”

The girl reached out, and held his hands. She looked him in the eye and said, “I don’t know why. But if it is that important to you, I’ll keep your secret.”

The devil seemed to relax and the two instead turned their attention to the book. He read her part of the beginning, and they discussed the part they had read. Infact, Hinami seemed to be an avid reader, and talking to her about books made Kaneki feel more lively than he ever felt since coming to the mortal realm. Apparently her mother had engraved in her a love of reading. 

Customers trickled into Anteiku picking up fresh cuts of meat. Time seemed to rush by, until the manager, Yoshimura, stopped by the table and asked to speak with Kaneki privately. Kaneki gave a small smile and waved goodbye to Hinami before following Yoshimura to the meeting room a floor above. 

They sat down across from each other and Yoshimura was the first to speak, “Touka told me you’re-”, he waved his hand, “An inexperienced devil.”

Kaneki didn’t say anything.

“I want to offer you a job here, help you get acquainted with the world at your own pace, around people you can trust. If you’re interested?”

Kaneki nodded hastily. “I’d like that.”

“At Anteiku we handle both animal and human meat. And I fear with your inexperience, you might mix the two up and give the wrong customer the wrong meat,” Yoshimura frowned, thinking to himself, “That would end very badly.” He gestured to Kaneki, “I’m considering what to task you with. Are you squeamish by chance?”

The boy frowned, “I’m not sure. Maybe?”

Yoshimura chuckled warmly, “Well, maybe we’ll avoid cutting meat till you’re comfortable with it. “Let’s start you off by putting you in charge of sharpening knives and also cleaning duty. I know it is not flattering, but it is a start.”

Kaneki looked pleased. “Thank you for having me. I’ll try my best.”

“Also treat this as a learning experience. Both humans and supernatural creatures are our customers. Your position does not necessitate interaction with customers, but you’re still around them. You can observe. Watch them, learn their behaviors, and incorporate them as your own.” Yoshimura held up 3 fingers. “There are three rules. One - never reveal what you are in the presence of customers. You never know who they might be - I think we learned this lesson this morning. Two - If someone with a weapon or briefcase comes in, discreetly alert me. Third and final,” Yoshimura paused. “I understand you are a devil. I understand you have been summoned to this realm by a wish. Given that it is Touka who summoned you, and the nature of what transpired yesterday, I can guess pretty accurately what that wish was. While under my employment, you are not allowed to engage the hunters in the pursuit of revenge.”

Yoshimura looked deeply at the boy. “Those of us in the 20th ward enjoy a level of freedom and peace not present in other wards. This is because we do not draw attention to ourselves publicly. If you were to engage these hunters to fulfill Touka’s wish, you would bring ruin to the fragile peace we have built. We have already had some close encounters on the borders of our territory. Serial murders and kidnappings. We can’t risk anymore.”

“That won’t be a problem,” replied Kaneki. “I can’t kill anyone.”

“`Can’t` and `won’t` are two very different concepts. The nature of what you are suggests you are capable of killing.” The manager’s voice lowered and got softer, almost a whisper, “One day circumstance will dictate a situation in which you will have to choose whether or not to take someone’s life. And it won’t be an answer of ‘can’ you do something, it will be a cold hard choice.”

Kaneki was silent. Yoshimura rose from his chair and headed for the door. He stopped beside the devil and rested his hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. When you’re ready to start, I’ll be downstairs, and I can start training anytime.” After a pause, he added, “We’re happy to have you here Kaneki. I look forward to working with you.” Then, the manager walked out and Kaneki was alone to contemplate his thoughts.  
After a few moments the devil collected himself, and went downstairs to join the others. Yoshimura proved to be a good teacher and demonstrated the basics of sharpening knives. For the rest of the day Kaneki washed trays, mopped floors, and took out the trash. It was tedious, but it was something to do. Every concept was so new to Kaneki, he was happy to experience them and did each task gladly.


	6. half and half

Kaneki proved to be a very astute learner. He picked up quickly on human mannerisms, and eventually Yoshimura entrusted him with customer facing tasks. He took phone orders, managed the cash register, and was much more sociable when performing his cleaning duties. With confidence in his work, his confidence in himself had skyrocketed. He was still modest and withdrawn, but now his actions were with purpose and unfaltering. 

“It is a dangerous world out there Kaneki,” muttered Koma, “Your ability to do the dishes is not going to save you. You should really learn to fight.”

“But the manager said the 20th ward was peaceful!” Kaneki complained.

“Peaceful from the hunters maybe. But we live in troubling times. There is a killer on the loose. We don’t want Anteiku to lose such a valuable employee.”

Hinami emitted a choking sound.

“Don’t tease him Enji, you’re scaring Hinami too,” spoke Irimi, she sniffed the air, “But I will say this demon, he’s not wrong. You smell incredibly delectable. ” She licked her lips, “You should probably learn how to defend yourself.”

Kaneki grimaced.

“Touka’s a pretty good fighter. Maybe she could teach you some moves?”

“Maybe…” Kaneki didn’t really think anything of it. The mortal realm so far had been pretty forgiving. Life seemed easy and peaceful.

“Speaking of Touka, where is she today? You two are usually together.”

“Oh,” replied Kaneki, happy to finally change the topic, “School started back up last week. I’m covering her shifts at least until she understands her class workload. The manager is trying to be flexible with her school schedule. He really encourages pursuing education.”

“School. That sounds fun,” laughed Irimi. “I wish I could have gone.” After a moment she asked, “Kaneki, have you ever been to school? Do they have school in hell?”

“No, ah…” He shied away a bit, pulling his hat down to hide his eyes, “I don’t think they have anything like that in hell. But I’m not sure. My mother taught me how to read though. And everytime she comes back from a job, she brings me a book.” His facial features seemed to relax. “She’d read to me when I was little. Once she told me it was what attracted her to my father. He loved books too.”

“Wait wait. Back up,” You’re from hell, why don’t you know if there are schools there?” Irimi asked confused.

“Ehh,” Kaneki scratched his head uncomfortably, “How to explain this, it is dangerous there, and my mother is extremely protective. I didn’t get out much.”

Irimi cocked an eyebrow, “More like over protective.” She redirected the conversation, “So I guess coming to the human world was a big change?”

“Oh yeah. Touka’s great. She’s been teaching me everything. I don’t know how I could have made it without her.”

“You should tell her that. It would make her feel good.”

Kaneki nodded and continued, “Everything seems so big and spread out here. And the temperature is better. It isn’t quite so hot.”

“I guess some things they say about hell are true,” laughed Koma.

Kaneki closed up shop that night. He waved goodbye to Koma who had also worked late. Irimi had taken Hinami back to Touka’s apartment hours ago. His stomach rumbled and his feet guided him in the direction of home. His mind was stuck on Touka. How her presence really had helped him ease into the mortal realm. He wanted to do something for her. An idea flashed through his mind. He could bake something for her! He started plotting a route home that included stopping by a convenience store to pick up supplies. 

He arrived at the convenience store and started looking through their selection of cake batters and other mixes. _What would she like better?_ , he thought to himself. 

A hand reached past his field of vision, grabbing a pack of brownie mix. “The brownie mix is superior, in my opinion,” a voice suggested.

Kaneki looked up and saw a boy slightly older than himself holding a pack of brownie mix. His hair was shaggy and he had stylish glasses perched on his nose. His clothing choice looked relaxed and comfortable. “The cake mixes just aren’t that flavorful. Brownies are the best you’re going to find for the price.”

“Thank you,” Kaneki stammered, grabbing a pack of brownie mix for himself. The other male headed to checkout. Kaneki read the mix instructions to determine if he needed to pick up another ingredient. Finally, Kaneki checked out and left the store holding a bag of brownie-mix. 

He walked a few blocks, Touka’s apartment wasn’t that far away. Suddenly, he froze in place, his feet coming to a halt on their own. His neglected stomach rumbled. He felt it before he heard it, the scream of someone suffering and in pain. He headed in that direction, as if drawn to it in a trance. His feet carried him to the back of an older building. He stopped and soaked up the suffering.

It was a fact he had omitted from Touka, and had managed to keep hidden from her during the weeks he had been living with her. He was glad she wasn’t the type to ask questions or do any deep induction on some of his behaviors. He was a devil. A demon who enacted the wishes of summoners. Devils were known for their violence, their malevolence, and their twisted sense of torment. Evil in every sense of the word. So then how come Kaneki, a devil, had a loving mother and apparently hated such undignified actions? He was grateful Touka had never questioned these things, and had soley labeled him as defective. Because the truth was utterly disgusting. The reason Devils took summoner’s contracts, the reason why his mother was labeled ‘Binge Eater’, all boiled down to a single undeniable truth. Devils fed on the suffering of others. The more fear and hopelessness they could inspire in their victims, the more it filled up their tummies and sated the ever present hunger that normal food could not fill. And Kaneki hated that part of himself. He couldn’t even think of causing such pain to a human being, because --

A yelp cut off his thoughts, and the boy poked his head around the corner. The aroma of anguish was dissipating, the man whose suffering had filled him, was dying. Kaneki hadn’t eaten nearly enough. During his first weeks in the mortal world, sampling Hinami’s suffering had been enough to get by. But due to the actions of Touka and himself, that suffering was changing into happiness. Kaneki didn’t mind, he actually loved seeing the little girl happy. However, his stomach….

A shaggy haired creature stood over the dying man’s prone form, muzzle digging into his stomach area. Sloppy intestines were strewn aside, and the beast had what appeared to be a liver grasped in its jaws. The creature froze, it raised it’s head from its meal and its eyes narrowed on Kaneki’s exposed head. The creature growled. 

The creature rose to stand on its hindquarters. It looked half wolf, half man. Torso and arms like a man. Face, claws, hind legs, and greasy tail like that of a dog. Shaggy brownish hair everywhere. It reminded Kaneki of the man in the convenience store. And at that moment he knew. 

The werewolf moved while Kaneki was frozen, he grabbed the devil’s shirt and flung him against the wall. “I guess I get two meals tonight,” growled the creature. The dog sniffed the air, “Two tasty humans in one night!” It lowered its head to go for Kaneki’s throat.

Kaneki struggled to break free. He saw the creature dip its head and teeth approach. In a last-ditch attempt Kaneki unravelled his tail from around his waist, and pierced his attacker in the stomach. He lowered his head and rammed one of his tiny stunted horns into the werewolf’s nose, knocking off his hat.

The dog recoiled and howled in pain and Kaneki felt a wave a euphoria hit him spurred by the creature’s suffering. Kaneki didn’t let himself be taken by the moment, and instead tore free of the monster. He got a few feet before he was grabbed and thrown on the pavement.

The werewolf lumbered over him, “Oh now you’re really going to pay. I thought you were a tasty human treat, but it looks like you’re something more than that. Too bad for shitty you. I’m going to drag this out. You should have been wiser and stayed out of my territory. 

The creature raised its giant arm back, preparing to strike and break bone. Instead it was thrown back 10 meters by an invisible force.

Kaneki blinked in confusion. In between him and his attacker stood a girl he recognized all too well in a simple black dress. She was hunched over, hands extended forward, and between her fingertips, reality seemed to warp. Touka. “I can’t let you kill him Nishio Nishiki. This guy has yet to fulfill my wish.” She glanced at Kaneki, “You’re lucky I looked for you when you didn’t come home on time.”

The monster got up from where it had fallen. “Shit.” He shook himself off like a dog, “You’re going to pay for disrespecting your elders little girl,” and then he broke into a sprint towards her.

In response, her feet dug deeper into the ground, and she chanted something beneath her breath. Moments later jolts of almost invisible force shot from her fingertips and impaled the werewolf. The creature sunk to its knees, only to force himself upright once again. He was about to take a step forward when he stopped.

Old man Yoshimura walked from where he was standing in the shadows. He didn’t even have to speak a word. He eyed the creature with glowing yellow eyes imposed over deep black sockets. The werewolf, Nishiki backed down with a whine, and slunk off behind the building. 

“He said you smelled like a human, what did he mean?” Touka asked Kaneki. She did not turn to face him.

Kaneki grimaced. 

“But you have a tail and horns. You haven’t been-,” Her voice caught in the back of her throat, “-Deceiving us?” Her eyes widened and her voice panicked, “You’re not a human right?”

“I’m not human,” Kaneki’s voice stuttered, “But I’m not a devil either.”

“What does that mean?” Asked Touka.

“He’s a half-breed,” Interjected Yoshimura, “A half-devil. A demon for a mother, a human for a father. Am I right?”

Kaneki didn’t move. He didn’t say anything. 

“You should keep this quiet Touka,” Yoshimura continued. “Half-breeds are an existence that are best kept a secret. They cause imbalances in the world. It would be dangerous, for him, if word got around.”

“How long have you known?” asked Kaneki.

Yoshimura’s face remained blank. “Since we met. For the right nose, your smell can be very telling.” He directed his attention to Touka, “Take him home. Try to travel together. The neighborhood has seen a spike in violence lately. I don’t need either of you to go missing.”


	7. Lunch with Mom

It turned out Kaneki didn’t do well handling human meat, but animal meat seemed fine. Touka had called him a hypocrite. Yoshimura took advantage of this and sent him off to the animal slaughter house to pick up supplies, while Yomo took on the task of picking up human supplies. 

Kaneki didn’t have a license, but he’d been training with Koma, which proved to be enough to get Anteiku’s truck to the slaughterhouse and back. Having made the trip before, he knew the way. He made the journey, collected the meat, and began driving back. As he reached the edge of the 20th ward he pulled over, put his hat on, and ran out of the truck. 

“Mom!” he yelled. “Mom!”

The woman with long hair, and a cute hat, turned to face him. “Ken?” And then after a second’s pause, ”Ken!”

He ran up to her, and she enveloped him in a hug. “Where have you been? You’ve been missing for weeks!” Her arms tightened around him. “No one saw you, right? You’ve been safe? What happened? - I thought that nut job Yamori had finally gotten to you!”

“No mom. I got summoned.”

Rize’s mouth made a little ‘O’ and she covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes narrowed, “Summoned. That hasn’t happened before.”

“I don’t know how. But it happened,” he whined, “And now I’m here until I fulfill this bossy girl’s wish to the letter.” 

Rize released him from the hug, and cupped his cheek. “Mother will make this right. I’ll kill her, and then you can come home.”

“Mom. Mom. Wait. No. She’s nice. Well, not really, but I don’t want her dead!”

“Well, why don’t you grant her wish?” Rize questioned simply.

Kaneki’s eyes shifted down, and had his tail been visible it would have drooped. “She wants me to kill someone.”

“Honey,” his mother cooed, “You’ve got to grow up sometime. Just a little swipe to the neck is all it takes.”

Kaneki’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t kill anyone.”

Rize ran her hand through his hair. “So like your father.”  
His stomach rumbled.

“And so much like me.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the street side. They approached a dumpster. “Wait here. My target is a man down that way. She pointed. I’ll bring him back here and you can eat.”

Kaneki shook his head back and forth. 

“Ken, I thought we were over this years ago. It will be ok. I’ll make everything better, just wait here.”

The dumpster was next to a wall of a restaurant. Kaneki got on the other side of the dumpster and fell back, resting himself against the wall. He slid down to a sitting position, out of sight. His head sunk and he stared at the ground. He was so weak. His mother still had to feed him like this. He was completely dependant on her. 

Meanwhile, Rize strutted down the street and waved at a well dressed man. She didn’t have the patience today for subtlety. He smiled back at her, grinning ear to ear and waltzed over to her. “Hey, what is a pretty woman like yourself doing in this part of town? Don’t you know there have been murders and kidnappings in this part?”

Rize looked at him through long eyelashes. “Actually, I live only a block where one murder occurred. It was so scary, hearing it on the news.” She leaned forward, exposing her cleavage, “My boss told me to be extra careful. He said, if I find a nice man willing to pay, he should be the kind of gentleman who would walk me home.”

Something dark twisted behind the man’s eyes. “How much will,” he pulled out several paper bills, “This, and a walk home, buy me?”

Rize licked her lips. “Anything you want.”

They walked together and stopped at the dumpster where Kaneki was hiding behind. “I left my purse back here. It isn’t safe to have it out in public all the time.” The man raised a skeptical eyebrow. “If you want,” she beckoned, “We could do something quick now? No down payment necessary.” 

The man seemed to process this for a moment. Something perhaps nagging at the back of his mind that Rize’s intentions were dangerous. His second brain overrode reason, and he took a step out of the public view, and into the small shaded spot between buildings. His eyes spotted Kaneki. “What the fu-”

And that’s when Rize pounced. She slammed a hand over his mouth, and whipped her devil tail out, quickly twisting it around his neck. He made a choking noise, tears forming at his eyes, and Rize forced the man to the ground, straddling his torso. 

Kaneki felt the stream of suffering and started to take it in. He was a slow eater. But Rize knew this/. And after years of looking after her son, she knew how to draw suffering out with a bit of theatrics and pain. A pair of black wings ripped out right above her hip area and with the clawed tips, she scratched at his thighs. Her hat fell off, revealing two large curled horns. She released his neck a little, and as the man took a deep gulp of air, she ripped off part of her shredded clothing and gagged him with it. “Naughty Naughty,” she taunted. 

“Eeess,” the man tried to say through the gag. Rize through back her head and laughed. “`Please`? Are you trying to say `Please`? But we haven’t even started yet,” she mewled, voice like syrup. She extended her wings, to the point they were visible to the man. His face blanched. He realized just what he had gotten into. 

Kaneki was practically salivating. Rize gave a little scratch here, a little nip there, got close to his eyeball. After a while, Kaneki noticed the man’s fear begin to dissipate. At this point, Rize took hold of his ear with her teeth, and tore it off. Slowley. Her hand over his mouth in case the gag failed. Kaneki took a few last sips and felt full for the first time this month.

Rize saw this, tightened her grip on the man’s throat, and waited for him to pass out.

She turned to her child, “Feeling better?”

Kaneki nodded.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m your mother. I’m supposed to feed you.” She smiled. “I need to complete my work though. Is there any way I can contact you if I get summoned out again?”

Still in a daze, Kaneki took a moment to process her words. “Um. I have a job at Anteiku. It’s in the 20th ward. Just don’t cause problems around there. I don’t want to draw attention to them.”

“Them? Are they like us?”

“Yeah,” the boy nodded.

“I won’t make any promises, but I can certainly try. But if someone who looks tasty comes along ~ well,” her voice sung, “I might not be able to help myself.”

“Oh no.” the younger devil yelped, snapping out of his daze. He readjusted his hat to hide his horns. “I need to deliver the meat to Anteiku. How long has it been?”

“Not terribly long. Run along then,” prodded Rize. “I’ll try to stop by on my next job. I can’t have you not eating well.”

Kaneki gave his mom a quick hug and ran back to the truck. He got in, threw it in drive, and headed deeper into the 20th ward.

Rize’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. She didn’t like the idea of her kid in the mortal world. The thought of someone finding out what he was and hurting him as a result terrified her. But at the same time, she smiled, maybe it would be good for him. He was too naive. This world would toughen him up. Make him into a good little devil. 

She turned back to the unconscious man. “Wake up soon little man.” she mocked, “When you do we can finally get serious. Or did you think that pathetic show just now was it?”


	8. Training Session

“Again,” stated Touka. “Don’t be scared to hit me. Between the creatures and the hunters out there - I can’t have you reflexively pulling your punches.”

Kaneki used his leg as leverage to push himself upright. “One more time,” he said more to himself than Touka.

She launched herself at him. She distracted him with a jab - which he dodged, followed by her other fist aimed at his stomach - which he didn’t. She used her remaining momentum to step behind him and kick his feet out from beneath him. The half-devil was sent tumbling to the floor.

“Hit me!” she yelled. “Stop trying to dodge and hit me!”

Kaneki pushed himself to his feet. “I’m trying.”

“You’re afraid,” muttered Touka. “You’re afraid of hurting me. Stop being afraid and attack.”

Kaneki panted and stared at her.

“Maybe I can help,” a voice echoed from the other end of the room. Renji Yomo appeared carrying a large black bag.

“Ohhh,” cooed Touka.

“Both of you come at me.”

“Alright,” Touka grinned. “It has been a while since I trained with Yomo.” She leaned over to whisper in Kaneki’s ear, “Seriously. Give it your best shot. I’ve landed maybe 10 hits on this guy -ever.”

Eyes wide, Kaneki blinked, and turned his head back to face the new opponent. 

Touka broke off into a run. She ran around the older man, trying to get behind him, where he was blind. Kaneki took a more frontal approach. Touka kicked from behind, and Yomo managed to catch it in the crux of his elbow, before grabbing her angle and throwing her across the room. With his other hand, he aimed jabs at Kaneki’s midsection. With his hand freed from throwing Touka, he used it to double his punches. Kaneki tried to dodge, but got hit. The force of the blow was enough to take him down. He would have stayed down, except he saw Touka recover and rush her uncle. He impulsively changed his mind, and attempted to deliver an uppercut, throwing all his weight upwards into it. An attempt was all it was, because Yomo caught the half-devil’s fist and Touka’s second kick simultaneously. 

Yomo turned to Touka, “You’re getting sloppy.” And then the turned towards Kaneki, “You’re pretty good at dodging. Work on increasing the power behind your hits, and stamina.” He looked down at the boy. We’ve been fighting for barely 2 minutes, and you’re sweating and breathing like you’re out for the count. 

“Sorry.”

Yomo picked up his bag and exited. Once he was gone Touka groaned. “That was embarrassing.” She turned to Kaneki. “One more time.” Training resumed once again.

He was getting better, she could tell. But a few weeks of training did not turn a person into a fighter. He also had an adversity to violence which made all his moves either evasive or defensive. Never offensive. The closest she’d seen to an actual attack was when he’d tried to uppercut Yomo. Was he still taking her lightly? And then a thought occurred to her. She was being easy on him as well.

“It has occurred to me that you don’t feel threatened during our training sessions,” she spoke between huffs as she dodged his punches. “I guess I’ve not been giving it my all either, but that isn’t going to do either one of us any good.”

Kaneki’s eyes widened.

“I’m going to up the ante a little. Put both of our well beings at stake.” She collected power between her fingers, rolling it around like a pen. She threw her arm in a wide arc and muttered incomprehensible syllables under her breath. Reality warped at her fingers, and flung from them to Kaneki at the speed of a mosquito zipping by. 

He dropped his stance, ducked his head, and managed to avoid one, two, three blasts of kinetic energy. The fourth caught him on the shoulder, the force twisting him backwards. “Wait - Touka - “

She didn’t let up, after releasing the energy from her fingers, she closed the space between them, and rammed a knee into his abdomen. He doubled over.

Having not anticipated the bow, Kaneki’s stomach was soft, and the knee made him want to hurl. “Agghh,” he slurred. He raised his head to plead Touka to stop, but her arm was already drawn back and swinging, in an extremely telegraphed punch. She punched him in the face. And then she drew back to punch again.

Resistance flooded through him and perhaps a twinge of anger. His devil tail shot up, wrapped around her arm, and used her own momentum to redirect the punch into nothingness and throw her to the ground. Unwinding his tail, he pulled it back for the next blow. He felt it sharpen and plunge into her hip, cutting through skin, and then ripping it back out. 

A second before she screamed. He jumped back, and pushed himself back against a wall. “Touka, I’m sorry. I..”

“No,” She pulled herself up to a sitting position. Hand holding her hip, face a combination of pain and a fierce grin. “No. It was good. I finally got you to be serious.” Her face lightened a twinge. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I just wish I’d taken you a little more seriously as an opponent. You’re actually quite good at using evasive techniques to your advantage when you really get going.”

“It’s not good.” Kaneki shook his head, and said more to himself.  
“Really, it’s ok,”Touka reassured him. It isn’t that deep, I’ll get Yomo to patch me up.

Despite her wound, she reached out and pulled him forward. “Come on you goof. That’s enough for today. You did well.”

She turned to leave, stopping to pick up her phone, and he followed, a smile playing upon his features.


	9. Motives and Party

“Another failure,” the wizard Kanou tisked. “You keep bringing me failures Binge Eater. The hunters’ attention has been drawn.” He pushed back from the edge of the operating table, where a nicely dressed gentleman lay, no longer breathing. 

“I am bound to your word,” Rize sung saccharinely, venom dripping from every mocking syllable. “I bring you exactly whom you ask for. No more, no less.” She giggled, “Perhaps it is time to consider the problem lies with you?”

A force slammed into the devilish woman and she was thrown into the dungeon’s wall. Her head made a sick crack as it collided against stone. 

“Don’t play with me demon,” the man whispered, restraining his anger. “You mistake me for a witch - a human who dabbles in the art. I’m something you should treat with far more respect.” He walked away from the operating table to stand in front of her.

Candle flames were already appearing around her body, and one by one softly being snuffed out.

“Knowledge is power. I would be more polite considering I know all about your little home-situation.” Kanou smiled. “You need to be summoned to stay in this realm. Wouldn’t it be a shame if something happened to your offspring while you were trapped in hell?”

The last candle went out. Everything went dark. And Rize was glad that foul creature had not seen her freeze. 

* * *

Wearing a plague doctor mask Yoshimura raised his glass. “To Anteiku. Ten years of success. Here is to hoping for ten years more.”

Clinks resounded throughout the meeting room as a masked crowed cheered and raised their glasses in response. “To Anteiku.”

Yoshimura continued, “I’m blessed to have each and every single one of you beside me. It is through the combined work of all of us that we have come so far. Now please,” he motioned to a table in the back of the room. “Enjoy some refreshments.”

The large gathering dissipated into smaller groups. Touka, clad in a rabbit mask, tugged Kaneki behind her. He stumbled, but caught himself, and was tugged along behind the witch. She stopped moving, and waited for him to regain his posture. “This,” she motioned towards a man with a featureless mask, “Is Uta. He’s the one I sent your measurements to - the one who made your mask.”

“Oh,” Kaneki said in awe. The man before him certainly had an odd appearance. He had bloodshot eyes and the outwards appearance of a gothic character. “Nice to meet you. Thank you for the mask.”

“You’re very welcome. It was my pleasure.”

“And thanks Touka,” He turned to her, “I didn’t even know this was a masquerade. I would have been completely unprepared.”

She hadn’t expected him to say that, and stood, at a loss for words. Her silence went unnoticed though, because Uta had Kaneki’s attention. “You’re the little devil of Anteiku I’ve heard so much about. A friend of mine has been insisting I introduce you.” He guided Kaneki towards away from the crowd.

“You know that mask is good for other things as well Kaneki. Keep it on your person at all times. If you get surprised by hunters, quickly slip it on.” Uta continued to lead him towards the meeting room’s exit, and to the hallway.

“Eh?”

“All of us carry one. Masks are useful for hiding your identity from hunters. You never know what the future holds.” Uta chuckled, “I guess it is just as Yoshimura said. You’re a bit ~inexperienced~ for a devil.”

Kaneki looked defeated. “Everyone keeps saying that!” he huffed. 

A high pitched voice ended all further conversation, “Uta! Is this him!?” A beautiful woman ran up to the half-devil and grabbed his hands within hers. He stiffened at the touch. 

She frowned a little and gave a confused look, but quickly regained her happy demeanor. Before he could react, she pulled him into a big hug. Her hands reached under his cloths and yanked his tail hard. 

“OUCH!” Kaneki yelped, sunk to his knees, and doubled over as if struck in the gut.

“Sorrryyyy,” she cried, “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted to see your tail. I’ve never seen a devil’s tail before.” She held the tip of his tail in her hand. “It is really sharp! How do you not hurt yourself?”

His tail whipped out of her hand and back into his. He massaged it gently in his hands.

“But no wings.” She sighed and he froze, “A half devil huh? I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it for myself.”

“No one is supposed to know about,” his eyes narrowed, “Who told you?”

The woman averted her eyes to Uta, and then stared back at Kaneki. “I buy and trade information for a living. There is very little I don’t know.”

The silence that followed weighed on both of them. Uta finally broke that silence. “Ken Kaneki, this is my friend Itori, Itori Ken Kaneki.”

The woman extended her hand radiating strong youthful energy, “It is a pleasure to meet you finally. Sorry if I got off to a wrong start.”

“That’s ok,”Kaneki mumbled, not exactly believing his own words. He thought for a second, “If there is very little you don’t know, can you tell me more about half-breeds?”

She seemed surprised by the question. “Usually I charge for my services, but for you Kaneki-chi I’ll make an exception in order to redeem my first impression.” She leaned her back against the hallway wall, put her hands together, and interlaced her fingers. “Half-breeds are super rare,” she started, “But you already know that. Part of the time, the parents are just too incompatible, other times there are complications, but occasionally one makes it into the world.” A smile crossed her face, “And here is where it gets interesting. Each creature in our world is limited by something. Be it sunlight to a vampire, iron to a fairy, silver to a werewolf. However, according to rumor, half-breeds are a little stronger, a little more robust, and aren’t completely devastated by their parent’s weaknesses. To preserve in the sun with only so much as a sunburn, to have an allergic reaction to iron, a tolerance for sliver. The competitive advantage is significant.”

“You’re saying there is something I can do that my mother can’t?”

“Yes,” breathed Itori, “And I’m desperately curious to know what that is.” She sighed and flicked her hair over her ear, “But alas, I can already tell from your question, even you don’t know. I can only speculate.”

“You gave examples earlier. Are there other half-breeds? Do you know any?” Kaneki asked genuinely curious. His world view was so terribly small, and his interest had been peaked. “How do you know they’re really all that different?”

Uta butted in, “There were rumors you know, a while back. Someone launched an assault against the CCG.”

“According to my information sources, the CCG were able to determine it was a half-breed. It’s power was unlike anything they’d ever seen before. It was too powerful, with little or no handicaps.” 

“Some say it was a half vampire.” Uta waved his hands, “Of course I don’t agree with them.”

“That’s too dramatic. I heard it was a shapeshifter with a resilience to silver. No matter what kind of bullets they threw at it, it didn’t go down.”

“A wizard maybe? Those abominations are already so hard to kill.”

“One child in my ward said it was a wendigo. Its sunken yellow eyes gave her nightmares for months.”

“Perhaps,” Yomo entered the hallway, “It was just a supernatural creature the CCG hadn’t encountered yet. Something old and rare.” He turned to Kaneki. “You shouldn’t worry about such things. Asking might elicit the suspicion of others, and you don’t need that kind of attention.”

“But Renji,” squealed Itori unhappily. “Don’t you want to know about Kaneki-chi too?”

“No,” replied Yomo unflinchingly. He turned to Kaneki, “Touka’s at the snack table, you should join her. She was wondering where you’d gone off to.”

Kaneki didn’t hesitate. Something about the other two left him uncomfortable. He exited the hallway and re-entered the meeting-turned-party room. The manager was relaxing in a chair with a warm cup of coffee, Koma and Irimi were chatting on one of the sofas, Hinami was playing games on Touka’s phone, and Touka was stuffing her face at the snack table. There were a few other people around as well, some Kaneki could recognize through their masks and some he couldn’t. The regulars at Anteiku, a tall handsome gentleman in a moon mask, and -wait- was that the werewolf that attacked him behind a building? He quickly ran up behind Touka.

“Touka-,” he hissed. “Is that who I think it is?”

She chewed on her sandwich for a few moments, eyes concentrated and focused. She managed words between chews, “It’s. Hard. To. Tell. With. The. Mask,” she paused for a moment and swallowed loudly, “But yeah, I think that is Nishio Nishiki.”

The devil’s eyes narrowed, “What is he doing here?”

Touka licked the crumbs from her fingers, making a popping sound as her fingertip left her lips. “Don’t worry about it, at least for tonight,” she said, ”Like it or not, he is a member of our ward. And all members were invited to the Anteiku party.” She reached for grapes to replace the disappeared sandwich.

Kaneki groaned. “I was wondering why there were so many people here. I thought I recognized most of the regulars, but the masks make it so hard to know for sure. Even still, there are too many people.” Kaneki saw Touka’s posture stiffen and her eyes widen through the mask. He was about to follow her gaze when he felt hands gripping his shoulders. He tightened instinctively. 

“My, my, whatever do we have here?” sang a flamboyant voice. 

Kaneki followed the sound and faced the newcomer. He was about to introduce himself politely, but never got the chance. 

“Ah, a devil ~such a sweet smelling one as well~. This food must look absolutely disgusting to you,” the man bent down and enunciated in Kaneki’s ear, “Why don’t we go somewhere, just the two of us, and enjoy something a little more delectable?” The man rolled his tongue over his lips and made a smacking noise with his mouth.

Touka’s posture became aggressive. “Tsukiyama, what the hell are going on about? Can’t you find someone else to bother?” 

The devil saw an evil glint in the other man’s eye, and a smirk stretched across the man’s face and turned into a smile, revealing a mouth full of sharp needle like teeth. Kaneki stared in horror as the man’s visible features under the mask contorted into something mockingly cruel. “Oh,” he said through pursed lips, “You don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?” Touka growled, getting more irritated with every word Tsukiyama said.

Kaneki looked around frantically. No one had noticed the exchange or seemed to hear anything. His breath caught in his throat.

“Silly girl, little devils can’t eat human food. They need something else to grow big and strong.”

Kaneki watched as Touka’s face revealed all. Her mind played back the time they’d spent together. Somehow, by some miracle, she had never seemed to notice his avoidance of food. His unusual lack of appetite every time she asked if he wanted something. Perhaps her schedule was too busy with taking care of Hinami, work, and school. She had somehow overlooked something so simple. 

Her eyes twitched in concentration, widening to look at him, “What do devils eat?” she asked innocently, the tone of her voice pleading for some simple explanation to sweep everything under a rug.

The devil’s mouth was frozen, but that didn’t stop the tall newcomer from answering, “Misery, pain, torment. Or did you just think, in those stories, they played with humans for fun?”

Touka looked confused. She had never seen Kaneki never do those kinds of things. And then she made the connection. He didn’t have to. “Did you,” she stuttered and her voice lowered, “Did you feed on Hinami and me?” Her eyes seemed to glass over, “The whole time?”

“I-”

“What the hell?” Her face still twisted in confusion. “Are you serious?” Her hands pushed against her temple as if trying to quell a headache.

Kaneki squirmed, and managed to quickly breathe out, “I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“You-” she mumbled, “You ate us? We were food to you?”

“That’s not true Touka. You’re my friend.” Kaneki shook his shoulders free of his captor’s grasp.

“You know, I was wrong before. You make a really great devil. You’re not defective at all. All you’ve done since you got here is deceive. Deceive. Deceive.”

Her soft hand covered her mouth, “I…” Touka muttered, “I think I am going to be sick.” And she nondescriptly walked quickly in the direction of Anteiku’s bathrooms. Only Hinami seemed to take notice of her abrupt exit, and followed her out.

Kaneki shook with anger, and glared at Tsukiyama. “Why did you have to go and do that?” he growled.

Tsukiyama placed his hand over his heart as if the accusation was completely unwarranted. 

Kaneki turned, and stormed out. 

Yoshimura watched with one open eye, but made no attempt to intervene. 

* * *

“Dad,” A young woman called to the long-haired man as she walked into a small office cubicle. “We received some anonymous tips last night. A demon wandering a local park and also a report of a young girl matching the description of the child selkie was spotted in the same vicinity. She was in the company of an young-adult-female, both wearing masks.

“Akira,” the older man spoke, “Did we receive any other tips endorsing these claims? Can we verify the validity of the tip?”

The young woman sighed, “We cannot.”

The older man pushed back in his chair and stretched. “Suspicious. I’m interested in wrapping up the Selkie case. And, well, we don’t have any other leads, so ~ should we check it out? Every now and then anonymous tips actually result in something. If the location they were spotted is along their commonly traveled path, we might get two birds with one stone. I’m curious to know what kind of creature her friend is.”

She nodded in agreement. “I’ll let Amon know.” Akira paused. “What about the serial killings case? Shouldn’t that be higher priority?”

Her father’s eyes narrowed. “At the moment we can afford to take a break. There must be at least two working together. Who ever is snatching bodies is a professional. We have no witnesses and only a vague idea of where they were taken from - which appears to be random along the 20th ward’s edge. The person who is dumping the bodies though, isn’t a moron, but is clumsy. We can ascertain their motives from the mangled corpses.”

“And-” Akira prompted.

“Resurrection. Someone aims to cross the boundary of life and death.”

Her breath hitched, “Is that even possible?”

The older man tapped his finger against a stack of papers on his desk, his face completely serious. “It shouldn’t be.” He slowed the tapping of his finger. “That is the one line I’ve never seen crossed.” He picked his hand up and waved it. “Alas, the entirety of the senior execs are looking into it. It is a waiting game, waiting for our perpetrator to slip up - or even better - for the two’s relationship to reach a tense point. Then they’ll get sloppy. And we’ll catch them.”

“More people will die.”

“Unfortunately, yes.” He sighed, “But there is no other course at the moment. For now lets direct our energy to the selkie offspring. If we can’t find her, we’ll make her come to us.” He raised a finger, “Oh, and the demon in the park, we can check tomorrow night, Although something tells me it probably won’t appear.”


	10. A Walk in the Park

The half-devil took a walk in the park to clear his head. He let his tail unfurled and whip around him. His hat was long forgotten at Anteiku. His mood was foul, and there didn’t appear to be anyone around at this hour to see him. 

Things had been easier in hell. His mother was the only person in his life and he didn’t have to worry about being himself around her.

Touka hadn’t been that angry in retrospect, more horrified and sad. He’d broken her trust. Again. At the same time, he hadn’t hurt anyone. Why had she gotten so worked up? It wasn’t like he tortured them or ripped into them like his mother would have. They’d just been in a bad place, there was so much suffering, and he’d just taken a sip. She had no right to be scared of him. He hadn’t hurt her at all since living there. Why did this little detail change everything. She was in the wrong.

“ _Then why_ ,” whispered a sly voice at the back of his head, “ _Then why did you hide it from her in the first place? If there was really nothing wrong, then why did you hide it?_ ”

“Shut up,” Kaneki growled at himself.

“ _Because things like you shouldn’t exist. One day, you’ll be so hungry, and go overboard, and then you’ll wake up to those two girls’ corpses, and be none the wiser._ ”

“Shut up, Shut up, Shut up,” he growled.

“ _You know it is true. Isn’t that what happened to your father?_ ”

Kaneki doubled over as a wave of memories hit him. His mother’s dazed expression as she leaned over his father’s fresh corpse. A single cut along his neckline, like so many before him. Her vision sharpening in realization, mouth forming a perfect ‘o’, and her gaze glancing between his father’s still-warm-body and her watching child. “Look away Ken. Don’t look at this. He’s sleeping,” she assured him.

“ _That,_ ” the voice continued to whisper, “ _Is what cohabitation with food always ends up looking like._ ”

A sob shook the boy. “I don’t want to kill anyone. I can’t kill anyone.”

“ _That’s what it always seems to come down to, doesn’t it?_ ” mocked the voice. “ _It is just a matter of time. Your mother knows it. Yoshimura knows it. Tsukiyama knows it. You know it._ ”

“She’s my friend. I wouldn’t hurt her.”

The voice laughed. “ _You already have._ ”  
\---------------

He showed up, a mess, at her doorstep. His face was puffy and red, he was dripping in sweat, his cloths were dirty as if he’d fallen on the ground, and his eyes looked lifeless. At the very least, he had wrapped up his tail and hidden it. He didn’t even knock at the door, he leaned against it with his head and stared at the ground, working up the motivation to put his key in and open the door.

He didn’t get that far because he heard the sound of the bolt unlock, and he lifted his head from the door as Touka opened it. She didn’t look mad. For that matter, she didn’t look sad either. Just worried. “Where have you been?” she accused more than asked. She didn’t seem to be expecting an answer. “Get in here.” She grabbed his arm gently and with a small tug, lead him in through the doorway. With the door closed, and safe from prying eyes, he unwound his tail, and let it dangle. 

She ushered him to the kitchen table and sat him down. “I want to talk about earlier tonight.”

“There is nothing to talk about,” he duly grumbled. Gaze focused on the table to avoid looking at her.

Her eye twitched as she suppressed a flare in temper caused by his attitude problem. “Earlier tonight I was surprised and scared. You look so gentle, sometimes I forget what you are.”

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t move.

“I’ve been thinking over it all night. You were right about one thing, you didn’t hurt anyone here. And I think your intentions were pure. You always encouraged Hinami. You never tried to bring her down. You never did anything to intentionally make any of us your food source.” She cupped her hands together, rubbing them uncomfortably. “I’m not very good with apologies. -And I got really worried when you didn’t come home. I realized,-” she sighed, “-I didn’t want you to leave. You’ve become part of the household. It would feel emptier here without you.”

Kaneki broke his silence. “I also did some thinking, and I don’t think you’re wrong. I am dangerous, even if I don’t want to be, -or don’t think I can be.” His breath caught in his throat. “I think it would be wise to restrain me at night, like you did the night we met.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. I know you’re a good person.”

Kaneki’s tone didn’t change. It was still the dull monotone. “It is necessary. And I’ve been foolish to think otherwise.”

Her hands froze. She looked away. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is,” he murmured. “I don’t want to lose control. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” He raised his head to face Touka. “Don’t want to leave this house. I don’t want how we’ve been living to end. I like it here. I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. Her facial features softened and she nodded in agreement.

“Why don’t you clean up? I’ll get the spell ready.”


	11. The Call

It was close to closing time when the phone rang at Anteiku.

“Kaneki,” Yoshimura called. “The phone is for you,” 

Kaneki left Touka’s side, walked over, and looked at him in confusion. “Who is it?” He didn’t exactly have any friends outside of Anteiku.

Yoshimura shrugged, unsure, and handed the half-devil the phone.

“Hello?” He answered, “Ken Kaneki speaking, who is this?”

“Ken?” the voice over the line gasped worriedly. 

“Mom?” Kaneki saw Touka’s head snap back in interest. Their eyes locked. He lowered his voice. “Is everything alright?” He looked at Hinami who sat alone with a book in hand, she too had heard, and her interest also had been spiked. 

“Yes,” she replied rushed, “I’m alright for now. Are you alright?”

“Yeah?” Kaneki questioned, his tone conveying his confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just be careful,” she said. “I just want you to be safe. Don’t go anywhere alone.” His mother’s words sounded disjointed and scattered. “Hunters were recently deployed to the 20th ward. It isn’t safe there anymore. My employers are the cause of the recent developments in the area and it has garnered a lot of attention-,” She cut herself off rambling, “You weren’t supposed to be here. You were supposed to stay in hell.” 

“Wait! Mom! Are you saying you’re the reason for the recent news reports?” He glanced at Touka hoping she didn’t make the connection between ‘recent news reports’ and ‘recent kidnappings and murders’. She did, and her eyebrows furrowed in anger. ‘WHAT?!’ she silently mouthed. ‘THAT WAS YOUR MOM?’

He broke eye contact with her and focused on what Rize was telling him, ”I can’t visit you like I hoped, it would be too dangerous.” Her voice changed and she pleaded, “You need to find a way back to hell now.”

He didn’t know how to reply. He could only reassure her. “Ok mom, I’ll try.”

He heard her breathe a sigh of relief and her voice got calmer. “Thank you.” There was a click on the other end of the line, and she hung up.

Touka was staring at him, hands on her hips, eyebrow cocked, waiting for an explanation. Kaneki obliged, “I had my suspicions, but I didn’t actually _know_ until just now.”

“Uh huh,” grumbled Touka. She waved her hand in the air, “Any more secrets that you want to share?”

He put on an obviously fake smile. “Nope. But we should probably get back to work.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because we have a customer, who has been waiting patiently.”

Touka’s rage visibly left her, and she turned towards the customer. She apologized profusely and took his order. Kaneki listened and wrapped the meat as Touka manned the cash register. An influx of customers arrived and Kaneki was grateful that their conversation had been cut short and forgotten. 

Still, he thought of his mother. She had sounded so worried. It was unlike her.

The two of them worked through the line, and when they reached the end, Touka flipped the sign on the door from ‘open’ to ‘closed’. Breathing a sigh of relief, she slipped into a chair. “Finally,” she gasped.

Kaneki went to start cleaning dishes, but he noticed something amiss. “Touka,” he said carefully, “Where is Hinami?”


	12. Sacrifice

After a few minutes of searching, they determined Hinami was no longer in the building. 

“I don’t understand,” Touka pulled at her hair, “She was here when you took the phone call - it couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes ago. Fourty at most.” Touka’s eyes darted around nervously. “Her book is still here. Where is the manager?”

“He left already for the day.”

“Call him.” she threw him her phone.

Kaneki started dialing. 

Touka walked over to where Hinami normally sat, and picked up the book. “If there is hair here, I can find her.” She flipped through the pages, eyes scouring the binding crease looking for a strand of hair. She found one, and continued flipping. The more the better.

“He’s not answering his phone,” Kaneki yelped frantically. “I’ll call Yomo.”

“Don’t call Yomo,” she snapped at him, remembering how he’d stopped her from helping Ryouko. “He’ll stop us.”

“What?” questioned the half-devil, fingers frozen over the keypad.

“Do you have a compass?” she asked hurriedly. 

“No, -” he gulped, “What kind of question is that?”

She paused for only a second, “I need something for the spell. Something to find one’s way when lost.” She snapped her fingers, “Pass me my phone. It has GPS!” 

He quickly walked over to her and handed her the phone. “And some plastic wrap.” He ran over to where it was stored and cut off a large piece. “Alright, I hope this works,” She placed the hair on the phone and wrapped them both with plastic wrap to hold everything together. She placed her hands extended in front of her, and looked like she was about to start spellcasting, when instead she turned to Kaneki. “I forgot, get me a broom from the janitor closet.”

“A broom?”

“Thirty minutes has already passed. We’re running out of time. We’re going to fly.”

Kaneki’s face blanched.

The area around Touka’s hands began to ripple, and it extended all the way to her phone. She uttered syllables frantically. And when Kaneki returned, and listened to them, he could almost swear the syllables blurred together to say ‘find’, ‘search’, and ‘pinpoint’. When he listened closer, the sounds went back to random syllables. 

Her hands stopped rippling, and her phone pulsed with a soft light. Suddenly it jumped into the air as if it had wings. 

She opened the front door of Anteiku and Kaneki followed, broom in hand. The phone followed as well.

Touka grabbed the broom from Kaneki’s hands, spat three syllables, and the broom rippled. She mounted it, and motioned for him to as well. “Get on. My phone is going to shoot off at any minute now.”

The devil got on the back. 

“Hold on tight,” she said, “I think I’ve told you how I’m not exactly the best flyer.” The half-devil wrapped his hands around her midsection tightly, as if his life depended on it. Simultaneously, he wrapped his tail around the broom handle. 

The phone shot straight into the sky, and Touka pushed off the ground. They traveled zero to sixty upwards in about three seconds and then shot forward, following the glowing phone. Kaneki’s grip on Touka became stronger.

* * *

Hinami sniffed the air. Even for a Selkie’s she had always had a strong sense of smell. She had caught a whiff of whatever-this-was back at Anteiku and had followed it. The smell was getting stronger. Her little nostrils flared as they sampled the air again. It was close. Something that smelled like her mother. “Mommm,” she wailed. 

* * *

Kureo Mado, Akira Mado, and Amon Koutarou laid belly down watching the street through binoculars at an incline. They had picked the location high above the street to have a good view, without the fear of being smelled. The wind had been in their favor today.

Akira nodded to her father and pointed, signalling that the young girl was acting suspiciously and quite possibly their target. The senior Mado nodded, long-hair bobbing at his shoulders, and he held out his hand in a motion to stop. He pointed to his wrist as if he had a watch, signalling to wait. His two subordinates nodded in response. 

They watched the young selkie trail off the path and down under the bridge where they had placed the lure.

The senior Mado motioned for them to move. They carefully made their way down the incline and onto the main road. The father and daughter went to approach the bridge underside from the left, while Amon went to handle the right.

* * *

Hinami dropped in place, her hands closed over something leathery and slimey. Tears streamed from her face, and she held it tight, sniffing it in big whiffs. Trying to engrave the scent upon her mind. “Mommm,” she sobbed. 

To her side, she saw a figure of an older man with long hair approach her, but she was too absorbed in her misery to do anything about it.” 

* * *

Kaneki stiffened. “Touka, drop down now. She’s below us,” he scanned the terrain. “The river. Under the bridge.” 

“But my tracking spell says-”

“Your tracking spell is wrong. I can sense her suffering. She’s in agony. She’s right there.”

Touka looked down. She too stiffened when she saw a young man she recognized all too well. “Hunters. Shit.”

She held onto the broom and pointed it down. Like a Kamikaze pilot, she aimed straight into the ground. Kaneki’s stomach attempted to crawl back up his throat as they dropped. “Get ready to jump.”

“WHAT?!” Kaneki closed his eyes, they were going to collide with the ground.

“I’ve never really been good at landings.”

SOMEHOW Touka managed to make a ninety degree turn from a point blank dive and they were upright again, speeding towards the young man now under the bridge. 

“Jump.”

They jumped. The broom went barricading into the young man. The handle dug into his clothing, and it scooped him up and threw him through the underside of the bridge and passed directly by the other hunters who were closing in on Hinami. 

“Amon!” the girl screamed.

The older man looked at the new arrivals as they tumbled on the ground. The girl rolled to her feet, and the boy landed face first on the ground. “Oh, you must be her friend with the rabbit mask. I guess every now and then the anonymous tips turn out to be useful.” He wasted no time and lashed a red-tinted whip at Touka.

Touka dodged, and the whip hit the ground, kicking up dust in its wake. The girl got a better look at Hinami. She was clutching something against her chest. “Hinami-”

The girl choked on a sob, “It’s mother’s skin. She can’t go back to the ocean without it.”

Touka bit her lip, and returned her focus to the older man, Mado. “You sick fuck.”

Kureo Mado grinned fiercely in response. “That was a broom just now that hit Amon. You’re a witch?” His smile widened. “This is going to be interesting.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a large knife, some sort of cross between a short sword and a machete. “Can’t have you setting off spells. Guess I’m going to have to keep this close range and quick.”

Touka’s focus was on the man in front of her, but she saw something flash from the corner of her eye. “DEVIL!” she screamed. 

Kaneki’s head shot up, and he managed to dodge a whip like projectile, a twin to the older man’s, as it struck where his head had been. The tiny tip managed to hit his cheek, and a red cut appeared. The half-devil pushed himself to his feet. His gaze followed the whip to its owner, a young, light haired, female hunter. 

“Akira,” the elder Mado snapped. “Be careful. Demons are seasoned killers. But luckily their tactics are mostly physical. Watch out for its tail. And keep your mind strong. Pain is what they feed on.”

The female hunter pulled back her whip, and began attacking Kaneki again. Her attacks were swift, and the half-devil barely managed to dodge them. Some he didn’t and the whip’s tip would occasionally lash him. He didn’t scream though. He couldn’t distract Touka. The senior Mado had her engaged in close combat, and it looked like she was having as much success as himself.

“Selkie,” he cried, hoping to get Hinami’s attention without completely revealing her identity. “RUN! GO NOW!”

But she didn’t move. Her suffering was a dark cloud that enveloped her. And Kaneki knew she had all but given up and couldn’t move if she wanted to. 

The light-haired girl’s whip wrapped around his leg, and he yelped. She pulled quick and hard, taking his balance, and he fell on his back. “Agh.” She was on him in seconds. Her other hand now containing a machete, dual of her father’s. She raised it up, telegraphing her intentions, and swung it downward. Kaneki managed to raise his arms and grab her hand, pushing it up and away from him. She put all her weight into plunging the blade down. It got closer and closer to his neck, and he pushed as hard as he could to push her hand away. “Please,” he begged. “I never hurt anyone. I’ve never killed anyone.” The knife came closer. “That girl is innocent.”

“Like I’d believe a deceitful devil.” She raised the machete up again, causing Kaneki to loose his grip, and she slammed it down again with more force. The half-devil managed to twist his torso out of the way, such that the blade sunk into the ground. He rolled back and backhanded the woman, and she was forced off of him. He slunk away and unwound the whip that trapped him, tossing it into the water running underneath the bridge. One less confusing weapon to worry about. He unfurled his tail, and let it wave behind him, building momentum for any attack that she would think up next.

She got up and improved her grip on her weapon. “Where were we Devil?” Then she charged.

Meanwhile, Touka was dodging. The man in front of her was slicing the air relentlessly. She managed to barely dodge, but he wasn’t getting tired, and she could barely get a a force spell off. Worse, she was tiring fast.

He swung at her from her left, and she arched backwards, just avoiding getting her head sliced off. The man flipped his grip on his machete and redirected the blade back in the direction it had come. She breathlessly managed to spit out a syllable and felt the familiarity of force emit from her fingertips. It was just enough force to deflect the blade. 

She readied her posture hopefully to set off a powerful blast of kinetic energy, but he was too fast, and her spellwork was sloppy. Her weak attack gleamed his shoulder on the side holding the whip, and while the shoulder was pushed back by the force, he seemed to largely shrug it off and resumed slashing with the large knife held in the other. She fumbled syllables and managed to ricochet the next blow.

Her body felt heavy, but she pressed on. She saw the younger male hunter running up to his fellows, and she yelped a warning to the half-devil. “Dev-” her voice was cut off as he dodged another attack by a hair. She jumped back, trying to gain some distance between her and her opponent. 

Unluckily Kaneki had not heard her warning, and the young hunter with short black hair barreled into him with what looked like a large blunt object.

“Oof.” Kaneki took the blow, but didn’t fall. He was fuelling his recovery on Hinami’s suffering. Touka could yell at him all she wanted later. He whipped his tail around him, and struck the large weapon with as much force as he could muster. Kaneki’s jaw dropped in surprise as his tail shaved off the front end of the mallet, like a hot knife through butter.

The hunter looked helpless for a second, as did the young female one behind him. At that second Kaneki noticed something else. Touka.

Mado senior had drawn back his blade for another strike, and that’s when Touka saw her opening, her saving grace. His blade sliced off a few strands of his own messy long hair. He aimed the blade towards her, and she dove straight into him. Her hands outreached, grasping for the strands of hair. She instantly knew she had made a mistake. The hair was worthless if she couldn’t even get a spell off. She cursed her recklessness. 

Mado’s eyes shone with glee as he easily redirected his blade downward. With her momentum and trajectory, there was no way she could escape. The match was over.

Kaneki moved fast. Every ounce of muscle he’d gained since coming to the mortal realm, every training session he’d had with Touka came down to one moment. He wasn’t all that far from the pair fighting. He jumped, lashing his tail out, snagging the Hunter’s arm, and pulling it out to the side and downward. The blade dug into his side instead of hers.

They were outnumbered. Three to one. Three to none. He was injured. Touka was out of breath exhausted, even if she had his hair, and got off the spell, she wouldn’t have the strength to take out the other two. So Kaneki made a split second choice.

Kaneki held his bleeding side, grimacing. He released Mado’s arm, pulled his tail upwards, and then lashed it back down. The hand severed, and Mado blinked in surprise. Kaneki jumped upwards and at the man, giving his tail the extra reach it needed, and like his mother had demonstrated many times before, he slashed the man’s neck wide open. He grabbed the front of the man’s falling body, and followed him to the ground. He grunted as they impacted the hard dusty surface. Pain shot through his body to his other extremities. His hands tore into the wound, ensuring a kill. 

Akira screamed. A black cloud of pain enveloped her. He took it in. He hoped it would heal him. The wound wasn’t closing fast enough. She ran up to her father and bare handed, threw Kaneki off of him. She screamed at him. In his pain, anger, and exhaustion he didn’t hear it. She cradled her father’s crumpled body. Her hands covering his neck trying to stop the wound from bleeding. The bleeding. There was so much blood everywhere. “Amon! Amon! Help!” She wailed, “No, no no no.” 

She shook the elder man a few times, he didn’t respond. She screamed and screamed again. Her wet teary eyes focused on the half-devil. “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you,” she repeated. She stood, hands dripping, and started towards him, blade in hand.

A flame the size of a candle lit up behind him. He was out of time. The wish was fulfilled. “Witch!” he screamed. “Get her out of here!” 

Touka stared at him, tears in her eyes, and after a second, a look of realization came over her face as yet another candle-like flame lit. She abandoned the hair she’d risked her life for, and ran to Hinami. She grabbed the girl, extended her other arm, muttered a word, and her broom flew through the air and into her outstretched hand. “Get on.” The third flame lit.

Hinami obeyed, bleary eyed.

The fourth flame lit. There wasn’t any time. Everything was over.

Touka muttered a few more sounds, and the broom sped off.

No one stopped them. The only thing Akira saw was the devil who had murdered her father. And Amon held his senior in his arms. His face was blank and grieving. 

The candle fire began to dim. Akira lunged at him.

She fell into the dirt. Her blade never hitting her target. It was like he was never there.

She screamed, machete stabbing into the ground. Wailing at her loss. Furious at her inability to avenge her father. 


	13. Circle

Touka had been closed off from everyone since that day. She didn’t speak more than was necessary. She put on a smile, but it felt forced. She went through the motions, but everything was numb. Hinami fared similarly.

It was like time had rewound itself back to the day Fueguchi died. All that pain came crashing back.

 _I wish for him to die in the worst way imaginable_ \- the words of her wish had hung in her head the first week. “He deserved it,” she choked out to herself, ”So why do I feel so guilty?”

Another week went by. She found herself even more distant from her school friends, co-workers, and even Hinami. She didn’t sleep much and spent many of her nights tucked under the sheets tossing and turning.

One night, like any other night, she threw off the sheets, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She pushed herself up and placed her feet on the ground. She crouched, and stretched her arm under the bed. She pulled out her father’s grimoire and opened it to the fateful page that had started everything. Her eyes gazed at it and after some time fogged over, not really seeing the page.

She went back to bed and tossed and turned till morning.

More weeks passed. She gradually began to get sleep. She began to feel again bit by bit. Ken Kaneki had come into her life like wind, and left just as quickly, but life continued on without him here. Things were getting better but -

“I don’t want to be alone,” she whispered to herself. A small traitorous tear escaped one eye.

Out of the silence, a voice responded, “You won’t be.”

She didn’t respond. It was her cruel imagination playing tricks on her. She looked over her shoulder anyways. And there in her room was Kaneki. His tail swished behind him happy, his eyes were a little wet, and his smile was clumsy and awkward - as if it wasn’t something he was accustomed to wearing. 

“Hi Touka,” the ghost of her friend replied. “I’ve missed you.”

“How-?” Touka stammered, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m not sure. I remember being lonely. Just my mom and I, alone. I remember wishing for things to be how they use to. I wished so much.” He held out his hands in a vaguely woosh-y motion, “And then I was here.”

He shifted his stance and he glanced away. “I guess we both can fulfill each other's wishes.”

“My wish?” Touka asked curiously. She didn’t remember making one.

His eyes lit up and he smiled warmly. “I won’t leave you alone.”

Her eyes were suddenly unabashedly wet.

“Welcome back,” she spoke through sniffles.

* * *

Itori’s informant leaned down and whispered something in her ear. She smiled and swished her wine around its curved glass. She giggled. “So that’s his power then,” she took a long sip. “He might not even be aware of it fully himself, but it seems the little half devil can wish upon himself.”

Uta leaned back in his chair. “A dangerous power. It would be bad if someone were to take notice.”

She smiled at him maliciously. “The power to cross the border between hell and the mortal realm on a whim?” She poured herself another drink. “I can guarantee you, someone already has.”

* * *

Kanou spoke to no one in particular, “So the Binge Eater’s child can come back without a summoner.” He smirked. “Sounds like the missing puzzle piece I’ve needed all along.”

A clown laughed behind him.

He walked over to a patch of ground, surrounded by candles. He waved his hand in front of him, and all the wicks exploded in flame. He chanted that venomous woman’s summons, as he had many times before. Although this time was different. He held a wax doll wrapped with long dark hair in one hand. “Binge Eater, I wish for you to keep me company until I’ve verbally indicated I want you to leave.” he summoned. 

A seductive female figure stood in front of him, glaring daggers. 

“Kanou,” she licked her lips, words sweet like syrup. “I thought you weren’t happy with my work?”

He smiled cruelly. “Oh, I won’t be contracting your services any longer.”

Her eyes widened, and he saw her stance alter instantly to take the offensive. 

He didn’t give her a chance to attack. He wouldn’t risk putting his life at risk, after all, he had so much work to do. He wrapped metal wire around the doll he held, tightly. In front of him Rize’s body contorted like so, as if it too was being wrapped. “Kanou,” she growled. “What is the meaning of this?”

Pulling the wire tight, and once he was sure she was no threat, he approached her. 

Kanou crouched down. “I want you to introduce me to a very special boy. I believe you know him. He goes by the name of Ken Kaneki.”


End file.
